The stack: Combining teammates for fantasy glory

Anyone who has played DFS understands that stacking is about using correlated plays in order to maximize potential points. Said differently, it is about using that natural variability of fantasy sports to your advantage in order to have the highest ceiling to your lineup. This is particularly important in tournaments, where you need to score in the top 10 percent in order to make money. When stacking works, it can pay off big. For instance, in the 2015 season, every single FanDuel Sunday Million contest was won by an entry that had employed some form of a stack (though certainly some were unusual combinations, such as the stack of Carson Palmer and the Arizona Cardinals defense in Week 16).

I think stacking becomes an interesting concept for MFL10s as well. In best-ball formats, your entire roster is in play each week, so you do not have to count on picking the single right player or right combination of players. With 20 roster spots, most teams have have at least one backup for every player in the starting lineup. That means you have a fallback at most positions if the negative side of correlation comes into play in any given work. But in those weeks where things hit the right way, you are gaining advantage vs your competition. This is vitally important in a format where only the first-place team finishes in the money.

In general, there are three types of stacks that show the most positive correlation in DFS and thus offer the most upside for MFL10 players as well. Frankly, much of this will apply to redraft leagues as well, but we’re specifically talking MFL10s today:

Quarterback with wide receiver or tight end

In FanDuel Sunday Million winners, the QB with a pass-catcher was the single most common stack, appearing in 11 of the 17 winning lineups. There is clear logic in this. If Greg Olsen has a big game for Carolina, there is a good chance Cam Newton will have a solid game as well (that combo was in both the Week 3 and 10 winning lineups on FanDuel). Taking it a step further, if a QB really has a big game, there is a good chance several of his pass-catchers will benefit, as was the case with successful stacks like Brock Osweiler/Demaryius Thomas/Emmanuel Sanders in Week 15 and Ben Roethlisberger/Antonio Brown/Martavis Bryant in Week 13.